Archived News:
The second preview of Evolva today has been posted at Future Gamer, who take a brief hands-on look at Computer Artworks' action/strategy game in their typical Q&A format, along with a set of new screenshots.
A new postmortem article on Gamasutra examines Spec Ops: Rangers Lead the Way, Zombie's action game that more or less initiated the soldier-sim genre. In the article, which is a reprint of the June 1998 issue of Game Developer, lead programmer Wyeth Ridgway discusses in fair detail the features of the Viper engine created for Spec Ops, and takes a balance on what went right and wrong in the game's development.
InciteGames has posted a
brief preview of Digital Anvil's Starlancer, featuring a few new shots from
the game (although one of them appeared earlier today in another preview). Starlancer
is a space opera that's being called "a prequel" to Digital Anvil's
other title Freelancer, despite the fact that of the two, Starlancer will be
shipping first.
GamesMania has posted a brief preview of Rogue Spear: Urban Operations, the upcoming expansion pack to Red Storm's tactical squad action game. Although short, the article does feature five new screenshots from the various missions under construction.
German gaming site Gamesurf.De has received six new high-res screenshots of RUNE, revealing more scenes from Human Head's upcoming third-person Viking bash. A piece of concept art is included as well.
InciteGames has posted the
first handful of images from Terminal Reality's upcoming Nocturne engine
based Blair Witch Project game, as well as word that all three games (the other
two are being made by Human Head and Ritual Entertainment) will be using the
same engine. The images show some concept artwork of the various monsters we
can expect to see in the game, as well as the first in-game shot.
As reflected in Jason
Hall's .plan, Black Isle Studios (makers of the RPGs Baldur's Gate and Fallout
in addition to others) have licensed Monolith's LithTech Engine to make "the
next generation of role playing games." Here's the press release, with
all the vague details: (Kirkland, Wa February 1, 2000) LithTech Inc. today
announced they will license the powerful LithTech Engine to Black Isle Studios,
the role playing game (RPG) division of Interplay Entertainment Corp. (NASDAQ:
IPLY). The LithTech Engine functions as a complete 3D game operating system
that allows game developers to quickly and easily design, develop and focus
on content without reinventing technology from scratch each time a new project
begins.
“The Black Isle name is synonymous with quality RPG games,” comments
Jason Hall, CEO of LithTech Inc. “The versatility of the LithTech Engine
will allow the team to create the most dynamic, graphically beautiful game possible.
We can’t wait to see the end results.”
The LithTech Engine, the technology behind Shogo: M.A.D. and upcoming Monolith
games Sanity and No One Lives Forever, allows for a full range of cutting edge
graphic effects, from spectacular lighting to highly detailed character models.
The engine also allows designers to create breath-taking outdoor areas from
magnificent mountain ranges to sprawling cities.
“In researching all the available 3D Engine technology out there, we were
very impressed with both the support and advanced feature set of the LithTech
engine. It is an engine that will definitely help Black Isle create the incredible
worlds we are known for,” said Feargus Urquhart, Division director for
Black Isle Studios.
The Mortyr Editing Site has posted a
skin editor for Mortyr, allowing you to make your own custom player skins
(thanks Morytr.net who also have the
file posted locally).
According to this
story on ZDNet, Microsoft's next consumer OS upgrade, formerly known as
Windows Millennium, has been renamed Windows Millennium Edition, or simply "Windows
Me." The upgrade is expected to go into its third beta phase within the
next few weeks, and is another incremental update to the Windows 98 codebase. This news comes after a confusing few weeks where Microsoft's
consumer OS plans have been continually changed, with the reworking of their
project formerly known as "Neptune" which is now called "Whistler"
and will be the first consumer OS based on the NT kernel.
A
new preview of Earth 2150 is up on GameSpot UK, featuring 33 new screenshots
from this 3D real time strategy game from TopWare/Mattel Interactive.
A new edition of the Soldier of Fortune designer diary is online at SoFCenter, with Raven's Eric Biessman looking back at the demo release and the responses it got, and commenting on a few issues they have addressed for the final release of the game. One such issue is the inclusion of several default configs, to cater for different player's tastes in their use of mouse and keyboard.
Unreal Center has posted an
interview with Human Head programmer Chris Rhinehart, talking to him about
Rune, their upcoming third person Unreal engine game of drunken pillaging. Chris
discusses some general info about the game, as well as how they're handling
the camera, and why they decided on making a third person title.
Despite the author's claim that the previous version would be the last one,
a new version of the
Jumbot for Half-Life has been released. This new version has some major
changes, including new area favoritism code, improved enemy hunting, and lots
more. Check it out at the
official Jumbot site.
Two new sites for upcoming 3D real-time strategy games have opened their doors for your perusal (thanks AVault). First up is the Star Wars: Force Commander preview site, offering preliminary information and a few screenshots of LucasArts and Ronin's new title. Also online is the Earth 2150 website, a full-featured affair showing off TopWare and Mattel's entry into the 3D RTS arena, including info and screenshots of the three races in the game, and a new movie trailer.
He Finds
Open Source Fair Game is the name of an article on Wired News that chronicles
the history of Loki Software, a company started by Scott Draeker that's responsible
for many of the recent commercial game releases on Linux. Amongst the games
Loki has published are Quake III Arena (via a unique arrangement with id), Heavy
Gear II, and Civilization: Call to Power. Loki is currently showcasing Heavy
Gear II as well as a new open source MPEG library with hardware acceleration
on ATI Rage 128 cards at the LinuxWorld Expo.
GA-RPG has posted a Q&A
with Trent Oster, the producer of BioWare's Neverwinter Nights. The questions
deal primarily with the game's multiplayer, with Trent explaining how the game
is different from other online RPGs (like EverQuest and Asheron's Call) and
explaining how it will work without an online service.
Gold Creek Technology has
announced Second Genesis, a new RPG based on the Unreal engine. One name
associated with the game should be familiar: Paul Schuytema is the chief creative
officer for the company (before his work with Gold Creek he was the lead designer
on Prey at 3D Realms). Here's a description of the game, which is set for release
in 2001: Second Genesis is a science-fiction adventure game that transports
players to alien worlds populated with many different races and cultures. Taking
on the role of a mercenary soldier, fighter, pimp, or even a good Samaritan,
players embark on quests while exploring environments and flying through space.
Gamers learn and execute a variety of martial art offensive and defensive techniques
in addition to traditional weapons use while controlling a dynamic inventory
and weapons system. As the player progresses through the single player game,
they will encounter several gladiator or arena matches for multiplayer action.
The demos from the XSReality Invitational Quake III Arena tournament have been
posted for download. Every
demo from the event is up, from the first round to the finals, and even the
Clan 9 vs. NPk match.
IGNPC has posted a lengthy interview with Scott Krager, producer of the first game based on the Evil Dead movies, entitled Evil Dead: Ashes 2 Ashes ( story). The talk covers the inception of the project, the involvement of Sam Raimi ("mainly from more of an approval standpoint") and Bruce Campbell ("end up being the most involved in the end"), the influences of horror movies on games, and the stage of the game's development, which takes place at Heavy Iron Studios and THQ. Here is how the discussion kicks off:
IGNPC: First of all can you summarize the plot of the game for us, as much as you can?
Scott Krager: The game takes place eight years after the events of the last
movie. Essentially, Ash goes back to the cabin in the woods, and again
encounters the evil left behind from the Necronomicon. From there he sort
of has a new adventure, where he basically has to save his girlfriend, and
that's about all we're kind of giving away at this point.
Also online at PC.IGN.com are half a dozen new screenshots of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - the Fallen, the third-person action game by The Collective and Simon & Schuster that was recently pushed back to an August release.
There is a modest gallery of new Starlancer screenshots up at GameSpot UK, the space-combat sim in development by Warthog and Digital Anvil, which they say should be ready for take-off in late April.
Third time's a charm, as PC.IGN.com has also updated their Evolva preview with new info on the upcoming 3D action/strategy title by Computer Artworks, based on their experiences with a recent beta. A bunch of new screenshots are included.
There are a few tutorials on making
Quake III Arena mods on quakeheads.com. Also, the first FvF
World Q3A Modeling Tutorial is online, showing how to make like Samuel Colt
and build your own weapon, albeit with 3D Studio Max instead of steel.
There are four new screenshots
from The rift on TeleFragged and ten
more on Gamers Central showing off more of this upcoming space RTS from ThrushWave Technology.
A preview demo of The Rift is expected on February 9.
Gameplay.com's Longbow Digital Arts... in the family
way is a profile of the folks behind Tread Marks.
The Q&A introduces us to the four members of the McNally family, a pair of
brothers along with their dad and mom(!), the team entirely responsible for this
just-released tank racing/combat game.
A new version of Reload Be Gone (RBG) for Quake III Arena is now available on Quakeheads.Com.
The mod alters the properties of some of the weapons (for instance, the machine
gun no longer has any "spread," and the gauntlet is much more
powerful), and to live up to its name, increases the rate of fire for every
weapon in the game (though the name does belie the fact that ammo is still
limited, hence a warning to be conservative with your fire).
Seems the UT Jailbreak release mentioned yesterday ( story)
was a work-in-progress version not really intended for widespread release. Dave
'anarchy' Dynerman sends word that the beta was designed so that mappers could
test their maps, and to get gameplay feedback from "the few JB nuts out
there" to help fix "several glaring errors that make the mod look very
unprofessional." Since our post resulted in quite a few downloads, they
want to make it clear that "although .5 may seem rough around the edges
right now, we can assure you it will be a product of the utmost professionalism
when completed. Please don't draw conclusions from this early beta!"
Star Trek Armada - The Chosen Ones
has the list announcing the beta testers for this upcoming Trekkie RTS. Thanks
Reverend Raven. Also, today is the Star Trek Armada chat in the ongoing Omega Project
chat marathon. The chat starts at 7:00 PM EST (4:00 PM PST/00:00 GMT) on the IRC
server omegaproject.net in the channel #lobby.
- polycount
has posted the "Miss Connecticut 2nd place in 'Lowpoly lovedoll
contest' plug-in Player model" for Quake III Arena, is the second place
finisher in the contest, converted as promised by Paul Steed to a Q3A model
for those wishing to play as a thong-clad, high-heeled "warrior"
...
- Here's a
new UT screensaver (direct link) by Avat@r.
Also, there's a new Q3A wallpaper on Q3a.de
with a neat version of the logo, as well as a new trailer in .mpg format of
an upcoming Q3A movie titled Pissedoff (like the wallpaper this
really doesn't have much more from the game than the logo)...
- ExciteAtHome Hopes Security Tool Calms Users-Cable service links up with McAfee.
Thanks Andrew Stern...
Tomorrow is Groundhog day (does that make this Groundhog eve?), when we
traditionally attempt to gauge how much winter remains based on whether a
groundhog sees his shadow. I will be personally running around Punxsutawney, PA
(apparently where the tradition began, evolving from a European tradition
involving hedgehogs) with a parasol and a pair of Ray-Bans for old Punxsutawney
Phil to try and make sure he's shielded for the sun, because this has turned
into one ugly winter in the northeast US, and I'm not willing to take any
chances if there's a hope it can prevent the season from stretching on six
more weeks.
Congrats to new dad Randy
Pitchford.
Link of the Day: Dynamic
Mona (click on "Click Me"). Thanks CausticPuppy. The warning from
the site reads: Caution!!! If you love art, and would be offended,
horrified or mortally wounded to see great masterpieces of the past terribly
mutilated, GO NO FURTHER!!!"
Story of the Day: Eighth graders use Super Glue, 'surgery' to save tarantula after brutal fall.
Thanks Garrett Galten, Maverick, and dr will.
Image of the Day: The
Quake Mobile, the new-and-improved model (its predecessor, reported here a
couple of years ago, was apparently stolen).
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